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Accessibility Observations

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From: Raleigh Way
Date: Feb 26, 2002 5:24AM

Hello everyone,

I have been monitoring dialogue about accessibility issues on several
lists for the past few months. I am relatively new to accessibility
and Web page design, but not quite an amateur; I know what is
required to make a page accessible, I know the limitations of the
browsers, CSS, screen reading software, Web page layout (usability),
etc. Here is my observation:

Think for a minute about the many browsers and screen reading
software in use. We must assume there is every possible combination
in use out there. In my opinion, it is impossible to accommodate
every situation. It is unrealistic to assume that every combination
of browser/screen reader can access every "accessible" web page no
matter how well it was constructed. Ok, then, what does work? What
is the common denominator? The answer I keep coming back to is
linearity. I've surfed a lot of sites designed for people with
disabilities, e.g., schools for the blind, and the one thing that I
notice is that the sites are linear. By linear design, I mean
left-to-right layout of text to accommodate older screen readers.

Imagine going into a site (blind) and having to figure out the page
layout and jump from one column to another before you could focus on
content. Section 508 says that you can only use a text-only version
of a site if all else fails. After speaking to several blind people
about this, they said they prefer the text-only version because they
don't have to puddle-jump through a site designed for the
sited/retrofitted for the blind because it is more linear. They
prefer a smooth ride to jumping around, so I'm starting to disagree
with the "You can't use a text-only version". Hmmm... Why not just
design the main site linearly? Why not just design a site that is
visually appealing, but linear? I realize designers (especially
corporate designers) don't want to sacrifice visual appeal and layout
for the sighted just because they have to also make it accessible.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing anyone; it's just that we
find ourselves in a situation that does not have any easy answer, and
I'm grappling with trying to find something that works.

Assistive Technology still has a way to go before it is up to speed.
Right now, most of us are trying to do the best we can to make
existing technology work with AT, but it doesn't work for all AT
(browsers, screen readers, versions, etc.). I